B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG Makes New Investment in Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. $CX

Key Points

• B. Metzler bought a new position in Cemex of 248,684 shares (about $2.857M) in Q4, and several large institutions (Wellington, Orbis, WCM, Robeco, Goldman) materially increased stakes, leaving institutional ownership at roughly 82.97%.
• Analysts show a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a consensus price target of $12.77, while individual notes range from downgrades to holds to JPMorgan raising its target to $14.50.
• Cemex beat quarterly estimates with EPS of $0.16 (vs. $0.12 expected) and revenue of $4.02B, and the company raised its quarterly dividend to $0.0225 (annualized $0.09, ~0.7% yield).

B. Metzler seel. Sohn & Co. AG purchased a new position in Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. (NYSE:CX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 248,684 shares of the construction company's stock, valued at approximately $2,857,000.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Cemex by 451.7% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 16,897,356 shares of the construction company's stock valued at $151,907,000 after purchasing an additional 13,834,438 shares in the last quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd raised its position in Cemex by 90.2% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 26,300,519 shares of the construction company's stock worth $182,263,000 after purchasing an additional 12,469,417 shares during the period. WCM Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Cemex in the 3rd quarter worth about $48,699,000. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its position in Cemex by 54.1% in the 3rd quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 10,366,666 shares of the construction company's stock worth $93,196,000 after purchasing an additional 3,639,547 shares during the period. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Cemex by 58.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 7,187,143 shares of the construction company's stock worth $40,320,000 after purchasing an additional 2,661,030 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 82.97% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Cemex in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "hold (c)" rating on shares of Cemex in a research note on Wednesday, January 21st. HSBC downgraded shares of Cemex from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and set a $12.80 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Cemex from a "buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Saturday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Cemex from $14.00 to $14.50 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $12.77.

Cemex Stock Down 1.1%

Shares of Cemex stock opened at $12.37 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.83 and a quick ratio of 0.62. Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. has a 1 year low of $5.57 and a 1 year high of $13.35. The firm's 50-day moving average is $11.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.28. The stock has a market cap of $17.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.65 and a beta of 1.60.

Cemex (NYSE:CX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The construction company reported $0.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.12 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $4.02 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.86 billion. Cemex had a net margin of 2.74% and a return on equity of 3.62%. As a group, research analysts expect that Cemex S.A.B. de C.V. will post 0.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Cemex Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 19th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, March 11th were paid a $0.0225 dividend. This represents a $0.09 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.7%. This is a positive change from Cemex's previous quarterly dividend of $0.02. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, March 11th. Cemex's payout ratio is 13.64%.

Cemex Profile

Cemex NYSE: CX is a global building materials company headquartered in Monterrey, Mexico. The company produces, distributes and sells cement, ready-mix concrete and aggregates, as well as related building materials, to construction markets in more than 50 countries. Cemex's product portfolio also includes asphalt and mortar mixes, waste-derived fuels and other complementary construction solutions, supported by a network of production facilities, distribution centers and logistics operations.

Founded in 1906 as Cementos Hidalgo, the company adopted the Cemex name in 1976 following a series of domestic mergers and expansions.

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